1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hydrolyzed divinylarene dioxide resins; and polymers prepared from such hydrolyzed divinylarene dioxide resins.
2. Description of Background and Related Art
It is known to hydrolyze epoxy resins such as by the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,335. Conventional epoxy resins can be hydrolyzed to convert the resins terminal epoxide groups into glycols. The derived glycol resins are useful intermediates in the preparation of polymers such as polyurethanes and polyesters. Partial hydrolysis of epoxy resins converts a portion of the resins terminal epoxide groups into glycols which enhance the reactivity of the resins remaining epoxide groups with curing agents such as amines. However, said hydrolysis increases the viscosity of the derived epoxy resin.
The most commonly partially hydrolyzed epoxy resin is bisphenol A diglycidyl ether. The use of aliphatic epoxy resins or monofunctional epoxy compounds having a lower viscosity imparts reduced heat resistance in their derived thermosets. Thus, while epoxy resins based on aliphatic epoxy resins can have lower viscosity the resulting polymers based on conventional hydrolyzed aliphatic epoxy resins do not maintain a high heat resistance after polymerization.
It is therefore desired to provide a novel hydrolyzed epoxy resin composition prepared from a divinylarene dioxide; wherein the hydrolyzed epoxy resin has a lower viscosity than those based on conventional hydrolyzed aromatic or aliphatic glycidyl ethers (e.g. less than about 5,000 mPa-s), and which can be reacted with curing agents and/or catalysts to form an epoxy resin thermoset, wherein the derived thermoset exhibits a high heat resistance (e.g. a Tg greater than about 50° C.) upon crosslinking the hydrolyzed epoxy resin composition.